Event
ChBE Seminar Series: Wu-Cheng Cheng
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Room 2108, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
Professor Dongxia Liu
(liud@umd.edu
Characterization of Fe-Poisoned Fluid Cracking Catalyst
Wu-Cheng Cheng
Director, Research and Development
W.R. Grace
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is an important petroleum refining operation, which converts heavy oils (boiling point above 340°C) to transportation fuels (gasoline and diesel) and petrochemical feedstocks. Fluid cracking catalysts are microspheres with an average particle size of 70µm and contain Y-zeolite as the active ingredient. As it ages in the commercial unit, FCC catalyst becomes poisoned by contaminants, such as nickel, vanadium and iron, from the feedstock. The problem with iron-poisoning has become more acute in the US, as refiners process more shale-derived oil. In this paper we will review effects of Fe on the diffusivity, activity and selectivity of FCC catalysts and share recent research work on the characterization of Fe-contaminated catalysts.
